Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Strategic default is simple: it's the intentional
act of going into default on your student loans. However, there's still a
misnomer here Joshua Cohen, a student
loan debt attorney, sums it up best: "First, when we say
strategic, that almost sounds like it’s purposeful. I think that’s incorrect.
Many of these strategic defaulters have no choice but to default. They simply
cannot afford the payment. When I say strategic defaulters, it means there is a
plan to deal with the debt, not that they actually default when they could
afford the payment. It’s not the default that strategic, it’s the what to do
after it defaults that is." And it's that idea - what you do after
the default that is strategic - that is powerful for borrowers. Read
more at Forbes.

The city is taking on lenders of “zombie homes” —
decrepit, vacant, distressed houses with unpaid mortgages, which have forced
the city to conduct emergency repairs and maintenance. The city’s
Department of Housing Preservation and Development is seeking more than $1
million from CitiMortgage, Wells Fargo and other home lenders who have
allegedly failed to maintain houses on the brink of foreclosure, the
department announced. Read
more at The Real Deal.

Each state has different rules around credit
freezes, but in some states, it costs $10 to place a credit freeze on their
account and another $10 if they want to lift the freeze. Not anymore
though. Going forward, consumers can freeze their credit for free at
Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. A credit freeze prevents lenders
or other credit providers from opening a new account without a consumer
unfreezing their credit. Read
more at Housing Wire.

In the second quarter of 2018, New York City foreclosures stagnated both year-over year and quarter-over-quarter. 881 homes were scheduled for auction for the first time, compared to 911 in Q2 2017...Citywide, the number of foreclosures is stable but high. Read more at PropertyShark.Com.